Archive for Herbs Culinary
Lemon Grass – a Multipurpose Thai Herb for Your Home Herb Garden
Posted by: | CommentsDo you say lemongrass or lemon grass? Which ever way you say it, it provides a very refreshing lemony herbal beverage. Easy to grow, it is a herb with a range of uses.
Lemon grass stems are typically used in Asian cuisine, especially Thai, but the herb lends itself to other forms of cuisine as well.
Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) makes a delicious and refreshing herbal tea infusion. All you need to do is select a couple of leaves. Make sure they are clean (no visitors!). Cut them into small lengths with scissors and put them into a cup. Pour on boiling water and leave for a few minutes for the infusion to take place. Lemon grass is reputed to be an effective diuretic. Some people add milk and sugar. Make iced lemongrass tea by using approximately eight stalks of lemongrass to one quart of boiling water. Cool the tea after straining and serve with ice.
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An Introduction to Herbal Tea Herbs
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that in reality tea herbs do not exist?
Or rather, tea made from herbs. Tea is the name given to the drink which comes from a bush called camellia sinensis. Herbal tea generally refers to a drink made from plants other than the tea bush. Today, blending different tastes is very popular and so often traditionally known tea has herbs added.
Using Fresh Herbs from a Home Herb Garden
Posted by: | CommentsYou have planted the herbs and watched them grow and flourish. Now you want to use fresh from your garden. Here are a few tips for preparing fresh herbs.
Fresh herbs definitely give food a better flavor. It is the leaves that are used for flavoring most often. However some herbs are harvested for their seeds. Cilantro, also known as coriander, provides both leaves and seeds.
When you cut fresh herbs on a young herb plant, do not take too much of the plant to start with. If you do it will take longer until the plant is big enough to give you more than you can use. I start off by harvesting the leaves and not the stalks, this way the stalks are encouraged to grow new leaves. Another trick is to “top” the plant. Cut off the leaves at the top of the branch and this will encourage the stem to generate side shoots and far more leaves. As the plant grows bigger I will take not more than one third of the plant at a time. This encourages new growth which is a good gardening thing to do. Once the plant is grown, you will be able to take what you need as often as you need it and the plant will continue to grow in size.
